Senior Congress leader P.C. Chacko has quit the party ahead of the Kerala Assembly elections on April 6, blaming factionalism in the party’s State unit and lack of “proper” leadership at the national level.
Speaking to reporters at his Delhi residence, Mr. Chacko said that he had been mulling over it for a while and sent in his resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi out of frustration.
Mr. Chacko expressed despair over alleged factionalism in the party’s State unit. “In Kerala, there is no Congress party. There are two parties -- Congress (I) led by Ramesh Chennithala and Congress (A) led by Oommen Chandy,” he said. He had flagged this issue many times to the central leadership but to no avail.
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) was a powerless entity while it was these two factions that decided the working of the party. “No names came up before the State election committee of the KPCC. Only Chandy and Chennithala decide who will contest from their respective factions. This is disturbing and disappointing. Today in Kerala, one cannot be a Congressman, you can only be faction I or faction A member. So I decided to call it a day after 50 years of being in active politics,” he said.
The BJP, he noted, was winning not on its own strength but because of the Congress’s weakness.“It is unfortunate that despite her ill-health, Sonia ji has to step in. The Congress has been functioning for one and a half years without a proper president,”. The G-23 had contacted him at the time of writing the first letter seeking internal reforms. But he refused to sign the letter. “I did not want to question the leadership of Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi. The G-23 is also not questioning their leadership qualities, it is only saying that there should be elections to the post of president and the Congress Working Committee. All they are saying is that the party affairs should be put in order as per the party’s constitution,” he observed.
As of now, he had not thought about his future plans, he stated. He ruled out joining the BJP who, he said, had failed to move the Kerala voters despite spending huge amounts of money. “Prime Minister and Home Minister are visiting Kerala frequently. But they cannot change the mindset of Malayalis, who cannot accept a communal party,” he added.
